According to one of the nation’s top experts on marijuana’s effect on the teenage brain, marijuana is not a benign substance.
Bertha Madras, a Harvard professor and member of the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, warned a Florida House committee Tuesday that THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is a dangerous substance.
“Marijuana is not benign. It is not safe. It is addictive,” said Madras.
People are misinformed about the potential dangers marijuana poses, such as its potential to increase early-age onset of schizophrenia and psychosis, Madras warned.
According to Madras, marijuana today has potency levels that have increased as much as nine-fold in the past 50 years.
“It is the most self-delusional drug of all,” she said quoting a colleague. “People are not aware of what is happening to them as they use heavily, as they use more and more, as it erodes a sense of well-being.”
